Two Days in Mendocino and a Drive Up North

(this is part two of a travel recap post – part one can be found here: A Day in Sonoma)

Last week, my family took a trip out to the West Coast to visit my brother. After spending time with family and a day in Sonoma, it was time for our next stop – Mendocino. The road to Mendocino was part of the trip in itself. Greg had helped planned us a route along highway one, with scenic views overlooking the Pacific coast. I’m so glad I was able to go – it was gorgeous, and we even got to stop for lunch in one of the small coastal towns along the way.

GREAT view along the ride.

GREAT views along the ride.

We arrived in Mendocino just before our B&B’s happy hour, which was great. We stayed at the Inn at Cobbler’s Walk, which is part of Glendeven, and I’d definitely recommend it. The property isn’t too big, is close to a bunch of walking/hiking trails and even has llamas and 100s of chickens on site.

llamas on the property!

llamas on the property!

After enjoying the local wine and great cheese at the Inn for the complimentary happy hour, it was time for dinner in downtown Mendocino. It’s a small downtown with shops and restaurants, we enjoyed another dinner on a patio before taking a walk around the downtown as the sun was setting.

family selfie at happy hour

family selfie at happy hour

The next morning, I woke up relatively early and went for a walk, including to the beach, on a path just a few minutes away from our room.

beach front walk in the morning

beach front walk in the morning

We had breakfast served to our room at 9 a.m., which included a three-course meal – yogurt and granola, eggs and a scone. Sooo good!

the amazing meal

the amazing meal

After breakfast, we checked out the rest of the grounds – the llamas and chickens and garden – and then headed to downtown Mendocino for a walk along the Headlands and lunch. It was such a gorgeous day!

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Our second night we stayed at a different place, this time with cabins and adjoining rooms so that we were all able to hang out and watch a movie – Beetlejuice – at night. This inn had goats this time.

Peanut Butter and Jelly, the goats!

Peanut Butter and Jelly, the goats!

We had a great dinner that night – we ended up wandering back downtown and hit up the MacCallum Inn. This week’s WIAW shares some of eats – wine, cheese, ratatouille and blackberry soufflé. SO good.

DESSERT.

DESSERT.

The next morning, we took a short walk around the new inn, and then hit the road for breakfast in Fort Bragg followed by a drive through the Avenue of the Giants. It is SO cool to ride among those SUPER tall trees! We also had time to stop for a hike along one of the trails. I love a good, easy nature hike!

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What a great trip – I hope we can do it again soon!

Some questions for you:

  • Have you ever been to the Redwoods?
  • Do you like hiking? Nature? I enjoy hiking, but i’m not a HUGE nature fan. I’m scared of bugs, snakes, animals, etc. 
  • Have you ever seen the movie Beetlejuice?

 

Friday 5: Family Vacation Favorites

I’m just getting back from a week of vacation spending time in New York and California with family. I’ve already written a few recap posts (NY, Sonoma), but before finishing up those posts, here’s a quick Friday Favorites dedicated to some of my favorite photos from our trip. Here you go – a few photos and one sentence as to why I like each photo.

1. Redwoods Selfie: Love that it shows all of us just hiking in the Redwoods, a place that is seriously so unbelievably beautiful, that it’s only better if you’re sharing it with family.

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2. Family in Jersey: Again, love that it captures me and my extended family – we’re hardly ever all in one place! family at katies birthday

3. Me and Greg @ Dinner: We actually look pretty related here, which doesn’t happen often. 20150726_202918

4. Greg and me and the vines: A traditional brother-sister selfie.

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4. Lavender fields at the vineyard: I can look at this picture and smell how beautiful it was!

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5. Parents on our walk along the Mendocino Headlands: They make me happy ❤20150728_140539

AND a bonus: Mom feeding the chickens: Because when else are we ever feeding chickens, or even around wildlife (and she looks like she’s having a great time!)?1438107515188

Happy Friday! I’m linking up today with Life in Leggings and Fitting it all In! 

WIAW #25: Vacation Eats in Mendocino

A very happy What I Ate Wednesday to you! I’m excited to share with you a great day of eats- different than my typical everyday eats – in fact, I’m vacationing with my family in California and we had a great day in Mendocino. A great day with a nice walk around the town, and wonderful eats.

Gorgeous Mendocino!

Gorgeous Mendocino!

The Inn that we were staying at delivered a great breakfast to us in the morning in a cute basket. The Inn boasts 100+ chickens, so of course there were some fresh eggs included with breakfast:

breakfast menu

breakfast menu

Greg carrying our breakfast basket

Greg carrying our breakfast basket

the amazing meal

the amazing meal

We took a great walk after breakfast around downtown Mendocino, all around the Headlands along the ocean. We got hungry along the way and snacked on some Malley’s Dark Chocolate Almonds.

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After our walk, we stopped for lunch at a cafe downtown. My mom and I split a lunch – we got a salad trio, with quinoa, kale and brussels sprouts salad. It was really good and tasted so fresh.

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Dinner was so good. We ended up eating at MacCallum House, an inn in town, and had an amazing meal. We enjoyed a bottle of local Pinot Noir, some fresh baked sour dough, and shared a cheese platter.

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My mom and I split the arugula, proscuitto and chèvre salad and ratatouille. I love splitting meals, and it was the perfect way to try a bunch of food without getting too stuffed.

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Dessert was so so so good. We had a fresh blackberry soufflé and split it four ways. Since it had been my mom’s birthday, they put a candle in a side of cream for her to blow out.

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That concluded our day in Mendocino. It was such a good day of eats – I really can’t complain! As always, click on the badge below to see what WIAW is all about.

Some questions for you:

  1. What’s the best thing you ate yesterday?
  2. Have you ever been to Mendocino?
  3. Splitting meals – yay or nay?